Restless Ones

from xkcd.com

Seeing this comic from xkcd.com reminded me of one of my old pet-peeves.  For years I have listened to people (some of whom were actually quite intelligent) who have become utterly convinced that the end of the world is nigh.  Their justification typically lies within the idea of society being in continual moral decline.

To be honest, I don’t buy it.  The more I look at history the more it seems that very little has changed within the nature of human beings within the last several thousand years.  The same major atrocities and minor moral infractions have been happening over and over again since the beginning of recorded history.  If it seems that humans are more cruel these days look no further than that shameful black spot on Christian history known as the Crusades and the Inquisition (did no one really expect it?).  If today’s society seems more sexually perverse then look no further than the Medieval literary classic, Canterbury Tales.  You will find it filled with raunchy bathroom humor worthy of the latest Harold and Kumar film.

The real difference these days is that with modern media and information access all those things that people have been doing for generations is out there for everyone to see.  It gives the impression that the world is going to hell but I wonder if the world has just always been there and we are just now noticing.

Nobody is going to know when the world is going to end until it is actually happening–Scripture is pretty clear about that–it could be tomorrow or it could be a thousand years from now.  By all means, be ready for it but don’t worry so much about it.  Instead, maybe we should just worry about making this world a little bit better for however long it lasts.

If I’m wrong, forgive me.  It’s just my own thoughts.

The early 20’s of life are a odd kind of time.  You could say it is either the time when things start going right or start going wrong.  It is the judgement day of dreams.

My twenty-three year-old self is finding that adulthood isn’t quite like the impression they give you in school.  Working two dead-end and unfulfilling jobs just to barely scrape by a living isn’t exactly where I thought I would end up at this point.  What became of those big dreams I always had?

The truth is, those dreams are still there and burning just as much as they did in my childish heart.  What has happened, though, is that the boy has been tempered by the cynic.  The boy is idealistic.  He believes there is more than the daily grind.  He believes in big dreams and believes they will become real.  The cynic is world-weary.  He knows that life isn’t like the stories in books.  He plugs away at the senseless grind and doesn’t look far beyond that.

I’ve found the place where the boy and the cynic can both play fair.  The boy continues to dream big and the cynic reminds the boy that dreams don’t just happen but they can be attained.  It’s a dissonance and a harmony that avoids the pitfalls of both delusion and defeatism.  I suppose it is some kind of maturity.

*title and general theme borrowed from the John Reuben album of the same name.